Colorado Cabin in the Pines (Peakview series Book 3) (10 page)

“Let’s make matching shirts,” Marissa exclaimed.

“That’s an excellent idea. That way when we wear them after today we can think about each other.”

The child’s smile turned to a frown. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’m going to miss you, too, honey. But maybe we can write to each other and keep in touch. Would you like that?”

“Yep.” Marissa’s smile returned as she grabbed them some paints. “We should make hearts because we love each other.”

They spent the next half hour covering the front of both shirts in small red and blue hearts, drawn carefully by Penny and covered in glitter by Marissa. Penny helped the other children fashion stars, flags, stripes, and other colorful designs. While they waited for the shirts to dry, Penny became the main attraction, painting each and every girl’s nails in various colorful patterns. Once dry, she slipped her shirt over her head and saw the smile erupt on Marissa’s face. Penny’s heart felt like it might explode.
Others could have their designer clothes, nothing would ever make her as happy as wearing this shirt made from the heart.

Once all the campers finished, they moved on to the horses, braiding red, white and blue ribbons into manes and tails. Of course, at the insistence of the campers, Ginger got her fair share of decorations. By mid-afternoon when the rodeo was supposed to begin, Penny was exhausted. She slumped down for a moment of rest on a worn wooden bench beside the corral, appreciating the lemonade that the cook brought out. Bandit, lying in the dirt by her side, suddenly jumped up and let out a welcoming yelp. She looked up to see Luke and Geronimo heading down the hill. He, too, dressed for the holiday, wearing a bright red western shirt with white pearl snaps and a fairly-clean white Stetson. She sat mesmerized by the way the muscles in his arms flexed with the movement of the horse. Her not-so-pure thoughts were quickly interrupted as she was almost knocked over by the rush of campers that swooshed by her in a race to be the first to greet Brutus.

“Look at the cute puppy! Can we pet him?”

Brutus didn’t need permission to jump up and start licking faces as he was surrounded by the swarm of giggling youth.

Luke dismounted and looked over at her for guidance as Ryan walked up to shake his hand. “Welcome to our camp. Thanks for coming. I see your dog’s a hit already.”

“It looks like you have your hands full here. Is it always this crazy?”

“Most of the time.” Penny grinned as she joined them. “But they’re especially wound up today with all of the special things going on for the holiday. I hope you brought your energy.”

“I can handle it. It’ll take more than a few kids to get the better of me.” He gave her one of his heart-melting smiles.

“We’ll see,” she laughed.

Luke had to admit that he was a little intimidated by the mob of screaming children. He did well with kids one-on-one but this…It didn’t matter, there was no way he would let Penny see his fear. She looked cute in her home made T-shirt covered in sparkly hearts. Of course, she always looked cute in anything she wore. He reluctantly tore his attention away from her chest and introduced himself to the campers. Penny and the other wranglers somehow got each camper on their horses and organized in a line.

Ryan handed him a large American flag while holding an equally large Colorado one in his other hand. “Here partner. You and I are leading the grand procession with the flags. If we’re lucky all of the campers will follow in our wake.”

Climbing back on Geronimo and positioning the flag as securely as possible, he walked Geronimo side by side with Ryan with the group of riders followed them into the large arena. He lost sight of Penny, but knew she was back somewhere in the midst of the children. After they all entered, and the gate was closed behind them, they continued to circle a few times at a slow walk. There Penny was, bringing up the rear, but now directly in front of him. Beside her, a very small girl with long flowing black hair and a shirt that matched Penny’s beamed up at her. This was how he pictured their life together, Penny teaching their own daughters or sons the love of horses.

He snapped back to reality. Ryan yelled, “Let’s pick up the pace.” They smoothly broke into a trot for a couple of rounds and then just as easily broke into a slow canter to the delighted whoops of the campers. Penny’s blond ponytail bobbed up and down in front of him. He could hear her laughter. All too soon, Ryan slowed and brought everyone to a standstill.

The games began. The children participated in egg and spoon races and several relays. Then everyone moved to one end of the arena, and he watched Penny tear in and race Ginger around the barrels to cheers and shouts of excitement. He knew it had been several years since she competed, but you’d never tell by the way she raced. How he’d loved going to the small mountain rodeos and watching her compete back in high school. She looked so happy on a horse and had loved winning all of those blue ribbons. How had she walked away? He bet she didn’t even have a horse to ride in Chicago.

Penny rode back to where they stood amid shouts of “Can we try, can we try?”

“Of course you can, let me teach you.” She walked slowly around the barrels this time, showing them the correct path. Each camper took their turn walking around the pattern, with Ryan and some of the others leading the smaller children. Then the older ones got the chance to try it at a trot and finally at a canter.

Luke couldn’t help noticing the small girl on the paint pony, alone in the back of the crowd. The one wearing the same sparkly heart t-shirt as Penny. The older campers maneuvered their way to the front of the line to race. He walked over to where she sat. “Hi. I’m Luke. What’s your name?

“Marissa.”

He could barely hear her timid whisper. “You and Penny have matching shirts.”

Her lip turned up ever so slightly. “Yep, she’s my bestest friend.”

“She’s my friend, too. Do you think we could be friends?”

She looked at him, her eyes filled with the suspicion of a small lost puppy. “Maybe.”

“Don’t you want to try barrel racing?”

The little girl shrugged and looked down at her pony, petting his neck. “Little Joe is not very fast. I want to go fast like Penny did.”

Luke’s heart clenched for this tiny girl with huge, sad, brown eyes. “Well, you’re in luck because Geronimo here is very fast, and I bet if you got up in the saddle in front of me and held on real tight, we could do it together.”

Marissa’s eyes got even bigger. “Really?

“Of course. Cowboys don’t lie.” He climbed down and walked around Little Joe. “Ready?” Marissa nodded, and he effortlessly scooped her out of her saddle and hoisted onto his large one. She couldn’t weigh more than a sack of grain. “Now hold on tight to the saddle horn.” He swung up behind her and guided the horse into the line of waiting children.

Penny lost track of Luke’s whereabouts as she stood at the front of the seeming endless line of campers waiting to learn the art of barrel racing. What fun it was to share something she loved so much with these young people. Someday she wanted to do this with her own kids. Kids she always imagined she’d have with Luke. Although she didn’t see him, she felt his presence like a warm breeze against her heart. After cheering Tommy across the finish line, she turned to see who was next in line. Much to her surprise, there was Marissa, not on her small pony but beaming down from the saddle of Geronimo, over 16 hands high in the air. She’d never seen the child look so excited.

“Luke and I are going to race together,” she exclaimed.

Penny glanced up into Luke’s blue eyes. He looked almost as excited as Marissa. If it wasn’t already hard enough to not fall back in love with him this summer, this could be the straw that broke the camel’s back. She fought unsuccessfully to stuff the feeling of love away. She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Marissa was worried that Little Joe might be too old to race the barrels, so she agreed to help me with Geronimo.”

“Be careful.” Luke was somewhat of a daredevil on the back of a horse having learned to ride almost before he could walk.

“We will,” the two said in unison.

Before she could decide whether or not this was a good idea, Luke spurred the horse forward into a trot and holding on to the reins with one hand and the child with the other, he made his way around the three barrels with the child giggling in delight. When he passed the last barrel, he clucked to Geronimo who shifted into an easy lope for the straight run home. Penny left one of the other workers in charge and ran over to where the duo stopped. Marissa giggled even louder now.

“Penny, did you see how fast I went?”

“I sure did. You were a star.” She reached up and grabbed the child down from Luke’s arms. “What do you say to Luke for taking you on that ride?”

Marissa still grinning, looked up at the cowboy. “Thanks, Luke.”

“My pleasure ma’am. He tipped the brim of his hat as he started to turn away.

“And Luke, I decided you can be my friend.”

Luke smiled back at the child.

“Luke, you can be my friend, too.” Penny said in a voice that sounded strangely hoarse to her ears. Oh boy, she was in real trouble here.

Once all the children had competed in the events, they dismounted and climbed up on the rails of the corral fence to watch Luke work magic with his lariat. Penny joined in their cheers as he flew the giant loop through the air and lassoed a calf that Ryan had let into the arena. He swung the rope round and round his body and even let a couple of the older campers come down and stand in middle of the rope with him. After much begging he even lassoed a few of the campers, being careful to throw the rope gently and not hurt anyone.

“Rope Miss Penny,” a few campers yelled.

Good naturedly, she jump into the arena and ran slowly in front of him to let him capture her. Little did they know that he also captured her heart.

***

After the rodeo and an outdoor barbeque complete with a watermelon seed spitting contest—a hit with campers and male counselors alike, Ryan pulled the two large tractor-powered hay wagons up to the hill where they would load the campers for the trek into town for the fireworks display. They’d take a trail along the river so it would be safe for everyone sitting on bales of hay and not belted in. Still, Ryan went through a long list of safety precautions including no standing or moving around while the wagons were in motion and no sitting too close to the edges. There would be several counselors on each wagon to hopefully keep all of the children under control. Penny walked up to the kitchen and brought the snacks for the ride.

Heading toward the wagon, she heard Marissa’s small voice. “Come sit by us, Penny. I saved a seat for you.”

She jumped on the end and saw the child sharing a bale of hay with Luke. Great. So much for trying to keep some distance between them. She wove her way through the campers, careful not to step on any fingers or toes. Marissa popped up making room for her. She sat down, and the warmth of Luke’s arm next to hers send tingles all the way up to her heart. Marissa, usually shy around any male, plopped herself down in Luke’s lap.

Penny looked over at him. “You don’t have to come with us, you know.”

“What and miss the fireworks with my favorite campers?” He winked at Marissa and she burst into giggles. “I promised this one that we’d find the very best seat for the show, and I intend to keep that promise. You may want to stick with us.”

“Cowboys don’t lie,” Marissa said looking up at him with adoration in her young eyes.

Oh boy, hers wasn’t the only heart that was in danger of Luke’s charm. The wagon lurched forward, and Luke put his arm behind her back steadying her. She didn’t mind being this close to him—she didn’t mind at all. For tonight, she decided to relax and enjoy the ride.

Everyone in Peakview County had turned out for the big show. Spreading several blankets on the grass for the campers, Penny told them to stay close. Local kids ran up and down the hill, lit up with glow sticks around their necks and arms. Luke and Ryan purchased one for each camper, and soon they glowed in neon colors.

Spotting her parents seated nearby with the Walkers and Peytons, Penny excused herself to say hello. Luke followed behind her, his hand touching the small of her back. She couldn’t help noticing the interested glances of their friends and neighbors and sped up her steps to get out of his reach. She didn’t relish being the subject of local gossip tomorrow.

“Penny, glad you made it.” Her mom stood up and gave her a hug. “And Luke, it’s good to see you, too.” Ann looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Luke was nice enough to stay and help us get the campers here in one piece,” Penny said desperately trying to downplay the fact that they were together. Cutting the conversation short, Penny headed back to blankets filled with campers. Luke stayed right on her heels. Of course, Marissa had saved a seat on each side of her for the two of them. The last rays of sunlight disappeared behind the mountians. Howard Crandall stood up amid the cheers of the crowd to announce that the show would begin shortly.

Luke looked over at Marissa. “Now the only way to properly watch fireworks is to lay flat on your back so that you can see the whole sky above you.” He removed his hat and set it beside him and laid back, his hands locked behind his head. “Then as each one shoots into the air, you yell ‘ooh and aah’ really loud. Here use my chest as a pillow.”

Marissa lay back against him and stared into the sky. The first explosion went off. “Ooh, aah!”

Ooh, aah, is right. Explosions were going off in her brain, but it wasn’t from the fireworks. She gazed down at the two people lying beside her. She noticed the crease in Luke’s hair where his cowboy hat had sat for the day and the muscles in his arms stretched behind his head. But most of all she noticed the small child resting on his chest, yelling in unison with him with each new explosion.

This is what she had dreamed about for all those high school years. Her and Luke—with children, enjoying holidays together. It might be just a fantasy, but it felt right. On impulse she moved over next to the child and laid her head on Luke’s lap, too. Although, the night air had turned chilly, warmth radiated off of him, and her body melted. Could he feel it too? A perfect moment. One that she wouldn’t soon forget, when she returned to Chicago.